Death Registration mystery, 1917

[ainslie]

A family gravestone in a Liverpool cemetery records the death of Gilbert Edmund CLARK 'who was lost at sea 11th November 1917'.  He is known to have been a marine engineer aged 54 and was not at home for the 1911 census.  His name is not in the CWGC Debt of Honour register, and I have not found the registration of his death in the civil or 'deaths at sea' records.
Probate of his will was granted on 28 January 1918, with the same date of date stated.  By present-day standards this seems a fast grant, which presumably would require the production of a death certificate.  Lost at sea sounds different from died at sea.
Several British ships were sunk on that day but I am not conversant with crew lists etc.
Any Sherlocks available with views on this one please? 
A

[Wocky]

You might keep an eye on this http://liverpool-genealogy.org.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=10223 as somebody else seems to be looking for the same information

[LindaJ1959]

Hi ainslie,

Just a point about the entry on the Probate Calendar: it's Administration that's been granted, not Probate, which would indicate that there was no will.

I'm afraid I can't help with the death record. I hope you solve the mystery eventually.

Linda